This invention relates generally to telephony, and more particularly to telephone calling accounts.
Millions of consumers each year make telephone calls using stored-value telephone calling accounts. These calling accounts are accessed most commonly by reference to a telephone calling card with an account number printed thereon. Calling accounts enable users to place local, long distance, and international calls from virtually any public or private telephone and charge the call to a calling account maintained by a telephone calling card service provider. The cost of the call is deducted from the balance stored in the calling account. As the balance in the calling account is exhausted, the account may be recharged by the user.
A stored-value calling account offers the convenience of centralized billing, without any charge to the actual telephone line used to make the call. Therefore, the calling party need not insert coins to make a call from a public telephone, or reimburse a private party for calls placed on a private telephone.
One problem with current stored-value calling cards is that they add to the proliferation of cards and account numbers in the modern consumer""s life. Users of stored-value telephone cards typically already have one or more credit cards, mileage cards, gas cards, dining cards, discount cards, membership cards, rewards cards, etc. in their possession. Current stored-value telephone calling accounts require the user to carry an additional card, and/or memorize an additional account number. Because space in the user""s wallet or purse is limited, it would be desirable to provide a stored-value telephone calling account that does not require an additional card and account number to be utilized.
Another problem of current stored-value accounts is that they are not capable of being assigned an account number from one of the other cards already possessed by the user. Assigning the account number of a preexisting card owned by the user to a stored-value telephone calling account would decrease the overall number of account numbers required by the user, as well as add an attractive calling feature to the preexisting card.
A telephone calling account system, method, and card are provided. The method typically includes determining a preexisting account designator of a preexisting account, creating a telephone calling account on a calling platform, and assigning to the telephone calling account the preexisting account designator of the preexisting account.
The system typically includes a calling platform, a database configured to store an account number corresponding to a calling account on the calling platform, and a remote server linked to the database. Typically, the remote server is configured to instruct the account database to create a new account on the platform having a predetermined account number. The predetermined account designator may be the same as a preexisting account designator of a preexisting account
The card typically includes a surface and an account designator imprinted upon the surface. The account designator typically is associated with a first, preexisting account, and with a second, later established account. The second, later established account is typically a telephone calling account.